It appears Minister Micheal Martin agrees that consideration should be given to a second airport on the Southside of Dublin. He said so on 'The Business' on RTE Radio 1, Sunday last, September 3.

When discussing future expansion plans at Dublin Airport, Friends First Chief Economist Jim Power wondered if the proposed second terminal for Dublin Airport should be built in north Dublin at all. He said that building another airport terminal in that already seriously congested part of Dublin city and county would create a lot more chaos for the travelling public on the M50 and around Dublin Airport itself. Mr Power said he would prefer Dublin Airport to be shut down and a major state-of-the-art airport, serviced by a high-speed rail link, and a good road network could be built on a green field site located somewhere like
Mullingar, in the middle of the country.

The Portmarnock Community Association would not go so far as to advocate closing Dublin Airport but we have been calling for consideration of alternatives to the reckless, uneconomic and unsustainable expansion of Dublin Airport.

Its airport subcommittee, UPROAR, which is opposed to the provision of a new parallel runway at Dublin Airport, has demanded a proper independent evaluation of alternatives that would include a second airport serving the Greater Dublin Area, as is required by the Department of Finance. Now the Minister Mr Martin seems to be agreeing.

He told RTE listeners that the issue of a second airport had been brought up at Cabinet more than once, and that the issues raised by Jim Power deserved consideration. He agreed that we may indeed need a second airport on the southern side of Dublin.

This contrasts sharply with the position taken by Transport Minister, Martin Cullen who told the Dail, in June 2005, that he had no intention of studying alternatives for the provision of new airport capacity to serve the Greater Dublin Area. His intention was that, subject only to planning permission, the necessary infrastructure would be provided at Dublin Airport.

Is this a sign of a change in position in the light of the strong opposition to this runway and its devastation of communities?

MATTHEW HARLEY.
MARTELLO COURT,
PORTMARNOCK
CO DUBLIN